Thank You, Lycoris
by Kazuki Naruse
Summary: Takes place after .hack/AI Buster. Lycoris had one final action to complete before destroying herself. Written in first-person POV by Hokuto. Please review! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)


Tomorrow it will be six months since Lyco disappeared.

I was with Albireo when he disappeared with her. They were holding hands in the middle of a church, though Al never told me why he took Lyco there...

I was playing as Hokuto as the time. My main character had no relation to Al or Lyco. In fact, she was completely separate from Hokuto.

That's why the addition to my inventory baffled me.

At the same time that Al and Lyco disappeared in a ball of bright, white light, an item appeared in my main character's inventory. It was a file, a mp4 file. I didn't even know you could acquire video files.

" 4" I looked at it, hesitantly clicking on the icon. A message popped up on my screen. It instructed me to wait six months before watching, and to send it to Albireo.

Tomorrow will mark the six month anniversary since Lyco disappeared, and the sic month anniversary since that file appeared.

I silently shut off my computer and walk to my bed, my mind full of questions without answers.

The sun is overly bright in my small room. It shines on my face, the curtains utterly failing to block it out. I sit up. Today's the day.

I get out of bed, rather slowly, but hesitate before walking to my desk. The work I haven't done stares at me, blocking my laptop from my view. Research materials are strewn all over the place. I never did clean it up...

I walk slowly, trying to keep from being intimidated by the sheer volume of the work I am procrastinating on. Slipping my FMD (Face Mount Display) over my head, I turn on my laptop, and log into my secondary account.

Albireo's online.

I select his name, and send him a message.

"I have something I need to send you. You have to watch it today. It's really important. I'll be sending it from my main account."

I was glad that I no longer had to hide my true identity from Albireo. It was much easier to be able to talk to him as an equal, as an experienced beta player.

I got a reply a moment later.

"... OK."

Within a minute I had switched accounts and was scrolling through my inventory. I had so many useless items I procrastinated on getting rid of that it took a while to find the file. Once I finally did, I sent it to Albireo, opening it the moment the PM disappeared from my screen.

The content of the video brought tears to my eyes.

It was a beautifully made montage of in-game moments with Lyco. There were moments I hadn't seen, such as when they met and moments I remember vividly, such as the moment I first saw her, and the joy of the flowered meadow. Scenes from Orca and Balmung's fight played, including the rising of the angel. It was beautiful, just like reliving all those moments once more.

It made me realize how much I missed little Lyco. I hadn't known her as well as Al had, but I had still spent a significant amount of time with the little girl, and she had become a monumental part of my gaming experience.

At the end of the video montage, one word popped up, lighting up the screen with it powerful simplicity: "Arigatou." [Thank you.]

I wiped the tears away from my eyes. Lyco had sent me this file before she disappeared. She had put together a video of the most memorable moments she was with us, and she had sent it to me.

There was a pain deep within my heart. I missed her so much. She had changed so much, and she is still changing so much because I know that as I sit here, opening a message box, Albireo will be waiting on the other side. He has also watched the video and I know that this experience has brought us closer. Lyco brought us together in a friendship that could never have happened otherwise, and even now that she is gone, she is still trying to keep us together by forcing us to communicate at least once after she is gone.

I hit "SEND" and know that Albireo will reply soon and it's all thanks to Lyco.

I look up at the sky in the game and whisper, "Arigatou, Lycoris."

/smile.


End file.
